Micromet to Present New Clinical Data on Blinatumomab at EHA and on Adecatumumab at ASCO
May 20 2009 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Activity of Blinatumomab in NHL and ALL Highlighted at the 14th
Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) BETHESDA,
Md., May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ:
MITI), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary
antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune
diseases, today announced an oral(1) and a poster presentation(2)
of blinatumomab data at the 14th Congress of European Hematology
Association (EHA) taking place from June 4-7, 2009, in Berlin,
Germany. Interim data from the phase 2 clinical trial with
blinatumomab in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
were chosen for an oral presentation, while an update from the
phase 1 trial with blinatumomab in patients with non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma (NHL) will be presented in a poster and include additional
data on the durability of responses last presented at the American
Society of Hematology meeting in December 2008 and efficacy data
from additional patients. Micromet also announced a poster
presentation(3) for adecatumumab at the 45th annual meeting of ASCO
taking place from May 29 - June 2 in Orlando, Florida. The new data
will include an update of the data presented at the European
Society of Oncology (ESMO) meeting in October of 2008. (1) Topp et
al, (2009) Blinatumomab (anti-CD19 BiTE(R)) for targeted therapy of
minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with B precursor acute
lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): Update of an ongoing phase II study.
14th Congress of EHA (2009), abstract number 482; oral presentation
on June 6 in Hall 15.2 at 8:15 AM. (2) Klinger, et al. (2009)
Pharmacodynamic analyses of peripheral blood from relapsed B-NHL
patients treated with anti-CD19/-CD3 bispecific BiTE(R) antibody
blinatumomab. 14th Congress of EHA (2009), abstract number 430; to
be presented in poster presentation on June 5, 2009, 5:45 PM.
Blinatumomab abstracts can be accessed at http://www.ehaweb.org/.
(3) Sebastian et al. (2009). Safety and antitumor activity of
3-weekly anti-EpCAM antibody adecatumumab (MT201) in combination
with docetaxel for patients with metastatic breast cancer: Results
of a multicenter phase Ib trial. ASCO Annual Meeting 2009, abstract
no. 1009; to be presented in Breast Cancer-Metastatic poster
discussion from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Adecatumumab abstracts can be
accessed at http://www.asco.org/. About Micromet Micromet, Inc.
(http://www.micromet-inc.com/) is a biopharmaceutical company with
offices in Bethesda, MD and Munich, Germany. The Company is focused
on developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of
cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. The Company's novel
antibody technology is based on its proprietary BiTE(R) antibody
platform, representing a new class of antibodies that specifically
activate T cells from the patient's own immune system to eliminate
cancer cells or other disease related cells. Four of the Company's
antibodies are currently in clinical trials, with the remainder of
its product pipeline in preclinical development. The Company's lead
program is a BiTE antibody known as blinatumomab, or MT103. It is
in a phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with
acute lymphoblastic leukemia and a phase 1 clinical trial for the
treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Micromet's
second BiTE antibody in clinical development is MT110, which
targets the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). The Company
owns all rights to MT110, which is currently in a phase 1 clinical
trial for the treatment of patients with solid tumors. The
Company's third clinical stage antibody is adecatumumab, also known
as MT201, a traditional human monoclonal antibody that targets
EpCAM-expressing solid tumors. Micromet is developing adecatumumab
in collaboration with Merck Serono in a phase 1b clinical trial
evaluating adecatumumab in combination with docetaxel for the
treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Micromet
licensed a fourth clinical stage antibody, MT293, to TRACON
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MT293 is being developed in a phase 1
clinical trial for the treatment of patients with cancer. The
Company's preclinical programs include MT203 being developed in
collaboration with Nycomed. MT203 is a traditional human antibody
neutralizing the activity of granulocyte/macrophage colony
stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which has potential applications in
the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as
rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, or multiple sclerosis. Micromet
has granted an exclusive option to Bayer Schering Pharma AG to
license a BiTE antibody against an undisclosed solid tumor target.
Additional BiTE antibodies, targeting CEA, CD33, Her2, EGFR and
MCSP, respectively, are in different stages of preclinical
development. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains
certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially
different from historical results or from any future results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements include statements regarding planned
publications of results from clinical trials with blinatumomab and
adecatumumab, the efficacy, safety and intended utilization of our
product candidates, the conduct, timing and results of future
clinical trials, and expectations of the future expansion of our
product pipeline and collaborations. You are urged to consider
statements that include the words "ongoing," "may," "will,"
"believes," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates,"
"intends," or the negative of those words or other similar words to
be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that may cause actual
results to differ materially from any future results expressed or
implied by any forward-looking statements include the risk that
product candidates that appeared promising in early research,
preclinical studies or clinical trials do not demonstrate safety
and/or efficacy in subsequent clinical trials, the risk that
encouraging results from early research, preclinical studies or
clinical trials may not be confirmed upon further analysis of the
detailed results of such research, preclinical study or clinical
trial, the risk that additional information relating to the safety,
efficacy or tolerability of our product candidates may be
discovered upon further analysis of preclinical or clinical trial
data, the risk that we or our collaborators will not obtain
approval to market our product candidates, the risks associated
with reliance on outside financing to meet capital requirements,
and the risks associated with reliance on collaborators, including
MedImmune, Merck Serono, TRACON and Nycomed, for the funding or
conduct of further development and commercialization activities
relating to our product candidates. These factors and others are
more fully discussed in Micromet's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2009, filed with the SEC on
May 11, 2009, as well as other filings by the company with the SEC.
Contact Information US Media: European Media: Andrea tenBroek/Chris
Stamm Ludger Wess (781)-684-0770 +49 (40) 8816 5964 US Investors:
European Investors: Susan Noonan Ines-Regina Buth (212) 966-3650
+49 (30) 2363 2768 DATASOURCE: Micromet, Inc. CONTACT: for US
Media: Andrea tenBroek or Chris Stamm, +1-781-684-0770, ; or for
European Media: Ludger Wess, +49-(40)-8816-5964, ; or for US
Investors: Susan Noonan, +1-212-966-3650, ; or for European
Investors: Ines-Regina Buth, +49-(30)-2363-2768, , all for
Micromet, Inc. Web Site: http://www.micromet-inc.com/
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